Now to Him who is able to do IMMEASURABLY MORE...: Celebrating Hope...

Celebrating the birth of Christ was a beautiful way to end this year so filled with hope! This Christmas season was a special one for so many reasons! Most special was the sweet reminder through the adoption of our Rachel Hope this year, that without Christ' coming, we would all be lost... forever orphaned and alone... without hope! But in Him, we are loved, fully accepted, adopted into His forever family, and filled to overflowing with immeasurable HOPE! That is worth celebrating!... Come, let us adore Him with our lives!

This girl is crazy about her Daddy!

Our family, together Christmas Eve...

On December 17th, the entire Dance Ministry of Ms. Felicia Roden (including our Kate and Ellie) performed The Nutcracker at the University of North Florida to benefit orphans around the world and some critically ill children from the Jacksonville area. This year, Rachel was chosen as one of the beneficiaries of their beautiful performance! Since the moment Rachel arrived home from China in September, Ms Felicia, her team, and the dancers, have overwhelmed us with their love, support, and prayers... Now, thousands of dollars have been raised in order to help our family with the medical expenses for the healing of Rachel's heart. We are overwhelmed by God's goodness to us through these wonderful people and look forward to next year's performance, when our Rachel will be among the dancers to help another child who needs hope too!

Rachel LOVES Gran!
She drove all the way from North Carolina to be here in time for tonight!

There's our beautiful Ellie in pink on the far left and sweet Kate in the middle in blue!
What an incredible job they did performing! We were so proud!

There was even a "surprise visitor" to present gifts to the honored guests of the evening!

Another blessing this year was our arrival home from an unexpected visit to the ICU at Shands Hospital in Gainesville just in time to attend The Nutcracker and celebrate Rachel's first Christmas at HOME! We had a few scary nights with Rachel's oxygen levels dipping into the 50s, and a single ventricle that seems to be weakening, but thanks be to God, the new meds are working wonders and she was back to her happy, peppy self just in time to celebrate Jesus! Many people enjoy Christmas most when seen through the eyes of a child. But when seen through the eyes of a 7 year old who before now, knew nothing of Christ, or the hope His birth brought to her broken, orphaned heart... there just aren't words to describe it! Never before have I enjoyed a "front row seat" to such miracles as I have in the past several months and it gave Christmas new meaning to all of us so blessed to witness it! I will treasure these memories for many years to come, as will all of those that have come to know and love our precious Rachel!